Location: Key Cay, Peter Island, BVI
Hello, hello, hello, people of the world. Welcome to day 35 of Survivor. Weve made it this far, but the sights are looking spooky for the future. Weve run out of Nutella, the life support system on Ocean Star, and have no idea when we will restock. That being said, spirits are higher than ever. The BVI is so beautiful. Pictures arent telling of the wonder of this place. All of us aboard Ocean Star are so fortunate to have this opportunity to explore the culture and natural world of the Caribbean. It feels as if every new island we go to transports us to a different world with various sounds, smells, sights, and life experiences. The places in the BVI we have gotten to visit are no exception.
We began the day with some overnight oats made by Claire and Chloe. I had been hearing about them for quite some time now and was so excited to find out that we got to have some it lived up to the hype. We got off anchor and motored our way to Road Town. On the way over, Ben taught us a bit about fisheries. His analogy of the Nutella crisis on board to describe fisheries in our oceans locked everyone in to lecture immediately.
We went ashore, and you know the drill. Lunch. Mani said he had a great lunch at Pussers and may have caught the eyes of a couple of waitressesgrocery store raid. Saw a sign for 1 gallon barbecue sauce tubs, Nick loved it. Dive shops. It was pretty nice.
After we returned to our pirate ship, we moved over to our dive site of the dayThe Indians. This dive was part of my PADI Divemaster requirements, but for everyone else, it was a leisurely dive. There are four large rocks that break through the surface and create towering mounds that a super cute pelican has colonized. The rocks descend about 40ft underwater and are covered in lively coral, with different coral patches around them as well. There were fish everywhere! We mostly dove around the wall of the pillars, but you know, I had to take everyone off course a little to see some cool patches of coral. There were tons of sea fans, sponges, and benthos to explore. After we surfaced, I heard Robert say that he ranked this among the top three out of his dives. Towards the end of the dive, there was a small cavern that Allie. Meg and I explored. Picture thousands of little silvery fish surrounding you with the ambient light reflecting off of them like a glassy mirror. It was so peaceful.
We left the Indians and headed to Peter Island for the night, the site of the wreck of the Willy T – a pirate ship once floating bar that was sunk along with its skeleton crew as a dive site.
Then Megatron and I schemed. As you may know, weve got five lucky divers aboard this ship working towards their PADI Rescue Diver certifications. Now, as a certified rescue diver myself, it has become my honor and greatest joy to help act as a victim in various scenarios. Picture this Weve gotten back to the boat, and when the rescue candidates think they are safe, Meg goes missing. I lose my mind. Where is Meg?? Why hasnt she surfaced yet?? My panic sets in, and I fling myself off the bow of the boat with no gear to go and help Meg. Owen and Rhianna were quick to set up their SCUBA kits to try to find and recover an underwater unconscious Meg. But naturally, as Megs loving DM student, I am beside myself panicked.
Jaxson and Max had to wrangle me at the surface with a Type 4 PFD as best as they could. I certainly am not making their jobs very easy, but they managed to get me back to the boat and up on deck. Then Meg gets surfaced and I overhear Allie and Katherine yelling that Meg is going to die. Will tries to wrangle me, but I fling myself back off that bow and into the turquoise waters below. Half of the Rescue Diver candidates are going through the drills they learned for rescuing an unconscious non-breathing diver while the others are taking care of me for my panicked swimmer routine. Meg was successfully rescued, and they calmed me down. I was having the time of my life. These scenarios are important and some of the most fun Ive had during this program! Annika and Nadia all spent time at the bow, watching the chaos ensue.
We ate dinner. Now, I am writing this blog. But the night is still young. For most of us, were about to embark on our first night dives ever!! Plus, we get to do ours at a wreck. It is going to be radical. Wish us luck for some sharks, maybe an octopus, and ghosts of pirates past.
Family, I love you all. Abu Dhabi and Hawaii people, I cant wait to hear all about what youve gotten up to since I lost wifi. Talk to you all very soon <3